Lakewood, Paramount may not hold council elections if no challengers file

As the filing deadline for the March 5 election came to a close Friday, some cities faced the possibility of canceling their spring elections.

If no challengers file papers or qualify to run for city council in Lakewood and Paramount, the cities could save as much as $100,000 in election costs, officials said.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, no challengers had qualified to run in either city, according to election officials. The city councils will determine how to handle the elections at upcoming meetings.

In Lakewood, incumbents Diane DuBois, Steve Croft and Todd Rodgers filed for the three seats they now hold.

Only twice in Lakewood's 58-year history has no one challenged the incumbents and the city called off an election.

According to city officials, the council will meet on Dec. 18 to decide whether to cancel the March 5 election and reappoint the three council members.

The city clerk has estimated that an election costs the city between $80,000 and $100,000.

Also up for discussion at next week's meeting is the filling of a council vacancy after Councilman Larry Van Nostran's death last month.

According to state law, the council must decide by Jan. 8 whether to appoint someone or hold a special election on June 5, 2013.

In both cases, the new council member would serve the remainder of Van Nostran's term, which runs until March 24, 2015.

State law requires that a special election occur at the next regularly established election date, as long as it is at least 114 days after the special election is scheduled.

In the Lakewood case, the city's March 5, 2013, regular election date will come too soon; the city would have to wait until June. A special election would cost the city between $80,000 and $100,000, officials said.

Only twice in it's five-decade history has Lakewood had a vacancy created when a sitting council member died. In both cases, the council appointed someone to complete the remainder of the term.

In Paramount, incumbents Peggy Lemon and Gene Daniels have filed for re-election and are qualified to run for the two open seats. As of 5 p.m. Friday, one else had filed.

If no one else files by the deadline, the city has the option to call off the election and appoint the incumbents, said city officials.

In other cities:

Bellflower will have two four-year City Council seats on the March ballot. Incumbent Dan Koops has filed with no challengers; incumbent Scott Larsen, and challenger Billy Moses will run for the other seat.

For one two-year term seat, three challengers qualified: Ron Schnablegger, Gloria Willingham and R. Yahye.

In Signal Hill, three City Council seats are open. As of the 5 p.m. deadline, only one incumbent, Mike Noll, was qualified to run. Eight others filed papers to run, including incumbents Edward Wilson and Ellen Ward, but so far they have not been certified as qualifying for the race, city officials said.

In Cerritos, two City Council seats are open. James Joogham Kang qualified to run for one seat. For the other seat, incumbent Carol Chen has filed to run, but has not yet qualified; she would run against challengers George Ray, Kiyong Ma and Frank Aurelio Yokoyama.

Two other challengers, Gerad Valencia and Alejandro Estella, had also not been qualified.

In Norwalk, two seats are open on the City Council. Incumbents Cherie Kelley and Mike Mendez both filed papers, but so far only Mendez has qualified. Four challengers had pulled papers, but only one - Candy Martinez - had filed as of Dec. 4.